PILOTING EFFECTIVE

PROFESSIONAL
LEARNING (PL) FOR
MATH TEACHERS
Ashley Lee
Clear Lake High School
Algebra 2 Teacher and Team Lead
Mathematics Department Lead
 LET’S START WITH WHY

During the 2018-2019 school year, students in my level Precalculus class engaged in “day zero” for each unit. These class
periods frequently incorporated open-ended exploration activities based on the upcoming unit objectives, and it allowed
me as their teacher to gauge their prior knowledge and perspective in a low-stakes environment.

Providing the structure for students to explore information, to identify and describe patterns they notice based on prior
knowledge or experience is straight forward. What is challenging is encourage students to try and think independently, to
take what feels like a high-stakes risk to be vulnerable in potentially being “wrong”, especially on the first day zero.
Throughout the unit, after instruction when students worked on collaborative activities or independent practice, their
questions on how to start or move forward were often responded with another question: “How do you think you should
start? What do you think you should do next?” Oftentimes, there was frustration because this way of thinking was new for
high school juniors and seniors. Students and teachers have been subconsciously been programmed to believe that math
lessons should be sit and get – students sit and get the information the teacher provides, and the practice done is a simple
regurgitation of the teacher’s methods.
As the year progresses, students begin to realize that they had a potential previously untapped. All I did was provide a
structure and environment in which they could realize what I knew about them – they have the potential to be
independent, deep thinkers whose perspectives and experiences matter in the collective community. They can be
comfortable with making mistakes, because when one identifies a mistake and more importantly grows from it by adapting
their thinking and trying again, they really learn.

By the end of the school year, some students articulate how much they learned in class, and usually it is not about the math
content. It is about how they grew as people, feeling more confident in their ability to think and grow in the future,
regardless of where they end up. A handful feel inspired to be teachers because they want to serve others in the same
capacity.

Recently, I had the privilege of hearing from a former student, now first-year teacher. She told me how at first, she thought
my class was crazy, that I was not always “teaching” students because I was not simply telling students the exact steps to
follow. As the year progressed, she came to expect opportunities to think about open-ended tasks, and Precalculus became
her favorite class. In fact, it inspired her to become a high school math teacher. Do you recognize anybody in the top right
picture?
This is my student, now teacher colleague, Mikayla Mata. She successfully graduated from Schreiner University with a 4.0
GPA for her B.S. in Mathematics. She credits her experience in my classroom as the inspiration to become a teacher. It was
not because of the math content I taught on a particular day. It was the long-term vision that my classroom would be the
opportunity all students could have to try something new, make mistakes, and adapt and grow through authentic learning.
Mikayla embodies the reality of this vision.

This same year, there was a student teacher who I was assigned after she had a negative experience at another campus. The
first time we met, it was 5PM after school and we discussed her goals and dreams of being a teacher, to serve others.
Throughout her student teaching experience, I modeled lessons while she observed and provided me feedback as well as
asking questions about my instructional practices. Slowly, we transitioned to a place where she modeled lessons while I
observed and provided feedback and finally, she implemented the lessons like any teacher would, independently. These
lessons were initially created by me, then we would collaborate on creating joint lessons, and eventually she was creating
lessons on her own. She sought feedback from other teachers and professionals on our campus and after graduating
December 2018 from Texas A&M with a B.S. in Mathematics, she joined our team. You may remember her.
This is my student teacher, former teacher colleague and forever friend, Monica Wilder. She credits her experience in my
classroom to continue her work and passion in the classroom. It was not because of the number of hours we spent
physically together in the same room, but the quality of that time spent. It was the long-term vision that my classroom
would be the opportunity for her to have to try something new, make mistakes, and adapt and grow through authentic
learning.
Our current professional development practices follow the “sit and get” model. Gulamhussein reports that 90% of
educators that consider themselves as participating in professional development report it as “totally useless” (2013). The
New Teacher Project reports that districts spend an average of $18,000 per teacher per year, oversimplifying professional
development as a one-size-fits all (2015). Studies also show that when teachers engage in limited professional development
(between 5- and 14-hours total), there was “no statistically significant effect on student learning” (Gulamhussein, 2013; Wei
et al., 2009, p. 9). While these professional development days have noble intentions and sometimes incorporate “team-
building activities”, the false assumptions that they are working is not supporting teachers to reach their true full potential
and they will continue to be ineffective (TNTP, 2015). These reports do not mean that teachers do not want to learn and
grow, they just point to what we also know to be true for students – sit-and-get is not the way people learn, they learn by
go-and-show.

When I interviewed at Lake and got to the end, I was given the chance to ask my own questions and conduct my own
interview. The first thing I asked about was what professional development opportunities our campus and district provided
because this is something I have valued since the first day in the classroom the summer of 2012. While there have been
numerous one- or two-day trainings and I am known for attending excessive amounts of professional development, it has
been few and far between when I have been gifted the opportunity to deeply apply that learning in my classroom and more
importantly, get the feedback and coaching required to ensure the learning produces significant positive student outcomes.

Another study The New Teacher Project analyzed shows that for teachers in their tenth year and beyond, 46-53% teachers
are rated below effective in developing critical thinking skills, 29-46% are rated below effective in engaging students in
lessons, and 20-42% are rated below effective in checking for understanding (2015). I do not want to be a part of that
statistic and our math teachers should not become part of that statistic. We must embrace the opportunity to pilot effective
professional learning, go-and-show, for our math teachers.
Just like students, when teachers are involved in active learning or “sense-making” activities that involve modeling and
applying practices, as well as reflecting on the innovative instructional strategies, teachers view the time sustained in
“engaging in active learning, meaningful collaboration and focus on content” is effective and enhances procurement of
knowledge and skills (Wei et al., 2009, p. 8). According to Wei, this includes the consistent involvement in observation and
feedback to support individualized teacher learner, to cultivate community improvement, and to enrich the classroom
environment for student learning (2009).

When teachers actively participate in professional learning, anywhere between 30- and 100-hours total (average is 49
hours), over the timespan of a school year, student achievement is boosted by “approximately 21 percentile points” (Wei et
al., 2009, p. 9). This advocates for “intense, sustained professional [learning] with regular follow-up and reinforcement”
(Wei et al., 2009, p. 61). Joyce and Showers suggest that on average, it takes teachers 20 instances of practice to master a
new skill (2002).

The 2012 MET study from Gates Foundation confirms little has changed since 1909 (Kane & Staiger, 2012). Professional
learning needs to move away from rote-memorization-based learning and towards practices that turn students into critical
thinkers and problem solvers, introducing and refining the 21st Century skills that we know current future employers want
and desire out of the workforce (Gulamhussein, 2013).
 5 KEY PRINCIPLES OF
EFFECTIVE PL
1. Duration
2. Support
3. Engagement
4. Modeling
5. Specificity

According to Gulamhussein, the five key principles of effective professional learning are
1. Duration
• “The duration of professional development must be significant and ongoing to allow time for teachers to learn
a new strategy and grapple with the implementation problem” (2013).
• We should implement school-year long professional learning. If a teacher reaches their goal before the end of
the school year, a new cycle can begin.
2. Support
• “There must be support for a teacher during the implementation stage that addresses the specific challenges of
changing classroom practice” (2013).
• We should engage in coaching cycles that incorporate continuous feedback/feed-forward conversations.
3. Engagement
• “Teachers’ initial exposure to a concept should not be passive, but rather should engage teachers through
varied approaches so they can participate actively in making sense of a new practice” (2013).
• We should include multiple ways to execute instructional strategies, such as ways to use the strategies in
different student demographics/populations.
4. Modeling
• “Modeling has been found to be highly effective in helping teachers understand a new practice” (2013).
• We should show teachers what we expect in how to try new strategies.
5. Specificity
• “The content presented to teachers shouldn’t be generic, but instead specific to the discipline (for middle
school and high school teachers)” (2013).
• We should cater these professional learning opportunities to the math content at the different grade levels.
 SO HOW DO WE PILOT
EFFECTIVE PL FOR MATH
TEACHERS?

Goodwin says “quality matters more than quantity”, so what does quality look like? (Goodwin, 2015).

Learning about something isn’t as hard as doing that something, so we must incorporate time and the resources we have
available to implement effective PL. To ensure we are meeting the 5 key principles of effective professional learning, a
coaching support structure is the way. This does not mean just an instructional coach; this structure can include the dean of
instruction, the team leads, the department lead, and really any teacher. Gulamhussein explains the coaching cycle in three
distinct steps that continuously repeat until a skill is mastered. Remember, it can take approximately 20 instances of
practice to master a skill.

1. A teacher will meet with the coach to discuss how the new strategy will be implemented into a lesson.
2. The coach then observes teacher teaching that lesson with the new strategy.
3. Afterwards, the teacher and coach meet to debrief about the lesson, the execution of the new strategy, and how it
could be improved (2013).

The cycle then repeats based on the feedback. What this requires is reallocating the time we spend doing other one-and-
done presentations deemed “professional development” towards these feedback cycles. It also requires utilizing the district-
provided funds for professional development towards creating more time for these cycles to take place.
 MOVING FORWARD WITH FIDELITY

Alison Gopnik at the University of California Berkeley conducted a study to see how 4-year-olds would respond to
interactions with toys and the adults that also interacted with the toys. She found that when an adult said, “I am going to
show you how my toy works”, the children were limited to playing with the toy in that exact way and limited to exploring
other possibilities. When an adult said, “I wonder how this toy works”, they tried everything possible with the toy, exploring
what happens when they pulled tabs or shook the toy. In fact, they did not necessarily know what would be defined as the
toy “working” (2016).

If I had just shown Mikayla how to play math, if I had just shown Monica how to play teacher, they would not have
discovered their potential to thrive because they would not have had the opportunity to try something new, make
mistakes, and adapt and grow through authentic learning. If we want teachers to learn and grow the same way we want
students to learn and grow, we need to let go of the professional development of the past and embrace and move forward
with the professional learning of now.
THANK YOU
REFERENCES
Goodwin, B. (2015). Research Says/Does Teacher Collaboration Promote Teacher Growth? Educational Leadership, 73(4), 82–
83. Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/dec15/vol73/num04/Does-Teacher-
Collaboration-Promote-Teacher-Growth%C2%A2.aspx

Gulamhussein, A. (2013). Teaching the Teachers Effective Professional Development in an Era of High Stakes
Accountability. Center for Public Education. Retrieved from http://www.centerforpubliceducation.org/
system/files/2013-176_ProfessionalDevelopment.pdf

Hill, Heather. (2015). Review of The Mirage: Confronting the Hard Truth about Our Quest for Teacher Development. Harvard
Graduate School of Education. Retrieved from http://www.greatlakescenter.org/docs/Think_Twice/TT-Hill-TNTP.pdf

Joyce, B. & Showers, B. (2002). Student achievement through staff development. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision
and Curriculum Development.

Kane, T. J. & Staiger, D. O. (2012). Gathering feedback for teaching: Combining high-quality observations with student
surveys and achievement gains. Seattle, WA: Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Pope, C., Beal, C., Long, S., & McCammon, L. (2011). They teach us how to teach them: Teacher preparation for the 21st
century. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 11(4), 324-349. Retrieved
from http://www.citejournal.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/v11i4languagearts1.pdf

TNTP. (2015). The Mirage: Confronting the Hard Truth About Our Quest for Teacher Development. Retrieved
from http://tntp.org/publications/view/evaluation-and-development/the-mirage-confronting-the-truth-about-our-
quest-for-teacher-development

Toikkanen, T. (2016, June 30). Learning Despite School. Retrieved August 1, 2016,
from https://medium.com/lifelearn/learning-despite-school-d0879be9464f#.f6roydrfs

Wei, R. C., Darling-Hammond, L., Andree, A., Richardson, N., & Orphanos, S. (2009). Professional Learning in
the Learning Profession: A Status Report on Teacher Development in the U.S. and Abroad. Technical
Report. National Staff Development Council. Retrieved from https://learningforward.org/report/status-
professional-learning-2/phase-professional-learning-learning-profession/